Category Archives: Goals

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Mid Year Tune Up for your 2014 Goals

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Corporations often require employees to review their goals and career development plans in the middle of the calendar year.  The intention is to maintain and regain focus on goals and help drive success.  Employees meet with their managers to check in on progress and develop action plans to help them move towards their goals.  In Human Resources, we call this a “mid-year tune up”.  I like the analogy of a tune up to make sure things keep moving and working properly.

The idea of a tune up mid-year is useful for everyone and especially for anyone who has ADHD.  If you have a tendency to overcommitt, now is a perfect time to regroup and set the course for a productive close to 2014.  Do you tend to lose focus on your priorities during the year?   Take time to refocus on the priorities that mean the most to you.

Pull out your goals or resolutions that you made for 2014.  They can be personal, family and/or business goals.  Review your goals and first review and celebrate the progress you have made.  The celebration step is an easy one to skip, but I recommend that you take it seriously.  You need to give yourself credit for what you have accomplished.

Review your goals to see what else you need to put in place to achieve your success.  Identify action steps that you can take in the next week to move you forward.  If due dates have passed, set new deadlines that are more realistic.  Are there any goals that no longer seem relevant?  Get rid of them!  (Decluttering at its best!)  Are there new goals you need to implement?  By formalizing them and setting action steps, you can increase your chances of staying on track and achieving your goals.

Leave a comment below and let me know how you will review your goals and plan for success.  We are here to help!  Wishing you a successful end of 2014!

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Remembering ADHD Goals

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I recently received a question from a client that got me thinking…

Goals are important when you have ADHD.  Goals are also often difficult to remember when you have ADHD.  Keeping your goal present and in your mind is important when you find yourself not working towards your goal.

How can you remember your goals?

Here are a few of my favorite ways to remember goals….

  • Write out your goal 4 times every day.
  • Make a PowerPoint slide with your goal and post it somewhere that you will see it every day. (You might want to move this around every few days so it doesn’t get lost in the background.)
  • Make a daily routine to repeat your goal to yourself 3 times every morning.  Do this while sitting quietly and taking some deep breaths to really help you focus.
  • Write about it each day in your journal.
  • Record one action item each day in your calendar.
  • Find a picture that represents success in your goal and post it somewhere that you will see it every day.
  • Using that picture as your home screen on your phone can be helpful.

There must be hundreds of ways to remember goals.  Please share with us below…. how do you remember your goals?

 

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New Years’ Intentions & ADHD

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At a recent meeting of our local CHADD chapter, Dr. Hava Schaver discussed mindfulness as a strategy to help with ADHD challenges.  As I was heading to Dr. Schaver’s talk, I expected to hear about meditation which is what I always think about when I hear the term mindfulness.  My learning went deeper.  While she did talk about meditation, I learned that mindfulness is so much more than that.  I can’t do justice to her talk here, but I want to share my take-aways with you.  My intention is to give you a new perspective on goal-setting now that we are deep into resolution-setting season.

Setting Intentions

The biggest impact for me was when she talked about setting intentions in order to do something differently.  For example, if you want to get a certain task done today, you can increase your chances of success by declaring your intention to yourself.  I’ll take something simple to illustrate.  If I want to make sure that I plan a week’s worth of dinners today, I will start with setting my intention.  I will close my eyes and state to myself  “I intend to plan our menu for the next week by 2pm today.”

As I plan my day, this intention will be top of mind and I’ll increase my chances of meeting my intention.

Can intentions be bigger?

I think so.  At the beginning of every year we get a barrage about New Years’ Resolutions.  What if we set ONE simple, meaningful and achievable intention instead?  I have been thinking about this concept ever since hearing Dr. Schaver talk at the beginning of December.  My intention for 2013 is to create more balance between my personal and professional pursuits.  In other words, “I intend to create more balance in personal and professional aspects of my life”.  There is more work to be done to meet this intention.  I’m not sure yet of all the action steps that will lead me to more balance, but setting my intention feels like a good place to start.

Intentions and ADHD

Can you apply this concept to your ADHD challenges?  I say you can.  The key from my perspective is to set one intention for the year.  You might be tempted to make many intentions.  On a daily basis, you can do this.  If you want to set an annual intention, focusing on one will help give it the priority that you deserve.

What types of intentions can you set around your ADHD?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • I intend to focus more during conversations.
  • I intend to arrive on time.
  • I intend to declutter the house.
  • I intend to give more focus to each task that I tackle.

I’m curious, do you think that setting intentions can help you?  I would love to hear your comments!

 

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Throw Out New Year’s Resolutions?

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It is interesting to me how we hear so much about New Year’s resolutions the first week of the year and I haven’t heard anyone talking about them in the last couple weeks of the month.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like New Year’s resolutions.  They are often not realistic, do not have solid plans behind them and are usually not what I would call “ADHD-friendly”.  I often hear people asking, “What resolutions are you making this year”?  This can easily lead to an impulsive response of, “I’m going to lose weight”, “I’m going to focus more” or  “I’m going to finally manage time better this year”.  Resolutions tend to be susceptible to this impulsivity, general and filled with obligation to fix what is wrong with ourselves.

Will you consider a goal instead?

I’m writing about this now because I am hopeful that you have forgotten your resolutions… Hopeful that you will open to considering the idea of setting ONE meaningful goal for yourself.  Having a meaningful goal to focus your attention can help you overcome the problems often associate with resolutions.

 Brainstorm

To start, brainstorm the ADHD challenges where you would like to make some improvements this year.  Review your list and decide what is the biggest priority for you.  Make this priority your focus for the meaningful goal you are going to set.  I know, it will be difficult to pick just one, but this is really important.  Having one goal where you focus your energy will help you in achieving that goal.  (I also think it will help you improve in other areas, but more on that another day!)

 Set a SMART Goal

After selecting your area of focus, it is time to set a SMART goal.  To make your goal SMART, you can answer the following questions for yourself:

  • How can I make the goal as Specific as possible?
  • How will I Measure this goal?  (If it is not easily measured, develop your own rating scale.)
  • What are my chances of Attaining this goal?  How can I revise the goal to make it more Attainable?
  • How is this goal Relevant to my personal and/or professional life?
  • What is the Timing or deadline associate with this goal?

When your goal is SMART, you can then develop a useful action plan and monitor your success until you achieve the goal according to the timing you have established.

What do you think, do resolutions work for individuals with ADHD and ADD?

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Practical ADHD Strategies – Setting Goals

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If you have ADHD, setting goals that will motivate you and keep you focused is important.  Listen to my 15 minute Blog Talk Radio show to learn the keys to setting goals if you have ADHD.

Listen to internet radio with Laura Rolands on Blog Talk Radio

How can you apply these tips to your goals?

PS – You can now subscribe to the show in iTunes!

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